The Great Famine of 1763-64 in Settefrati: The Memory of Abbot Michelangelo Carelli
In the archives of the parish of S. Maria della Tribuna in Settefrati, the last two sheets of the Liber matrimoniorum hold a historical testimony of exceptional value: the story of the terrible famine that struck central Italy between 1763 and 1764.
The author is the’Abbot Michelangelo Carelli, parish priest of the church from 1762 to 1783. His writing represents the only chronicle opening in centuries of anagraphic records, distinguished by a narrative robustness and descriptive force that transcend the simple local chronicle.
A document of national importance
Although written in the heart of the Comino Valley, Abbot Carelli's document is not only of local interest. It is part of a catastrophic phenomenon that affected the entire Kingdom of Naples and the Papal State, also documented by famous travellers of the time such as Grosley and Symonds.
Unlike many rhetorical reconstructions of the 18th century, Carelli adopts an almost “scientific” and sociological approach:
- Economic Analysis: Observe the soaring prices and the hoarding of goods by the wealthy classes.
- Social Analysis: It describes the vanishing of family ties and the abandonment of the pietas religion in the face of extreme hunger.
- Christian view of history: For the Abbot, man is a union of body and soul; material suffering cannot be separated from spiritual disturbance.
AD FUTURAM REI MEMORIAM: The Abbot's Tale
Full transcription of Michelangelo Carelli's historical memoir.
The beginning of the scourge: Rain and drought
Great was the chastisement sent by God upon the infamous cities, destroying them with fire, and even greater was the universal flood. But to the wise observer, the scourge of the last months of the 1763 and the first six of the 1764 appears as the most terrible of all.
It all began in May 1763incessant rains plagued the land until 20 June. The grass grew so much that it choked the wheat, which rotted or remained sterile. Then, suddenly, the “cataracts of heaven” closed. There followed a appalling droughtFrom June to September, neither rain nor dew fell. Despite processions, penances and missions, the sky remained covered with water-laden clouds that did not decide to wet the earth.
The collapse of nature and agriculture
The corn, the maize and even the grass dried up. The beasts had nothing to feed on; many trees died. The springs lost their course and the rivers were reduced to rivulets. There were no nuts, no acorns, no olives. Even the brambles bore no fruit. Grapes were so scarce that they were barely enough for fresh consumption, and wine became very rare and very expensive.
Extreme hunger and human tragedy
The shepherds, finding no pastures, came to eat dirt and dried leaves. Men and women, in droves, went out into the countryside to feed on raw herbs of all kinds. Many of these were poisonous: people's faces turned green as grass, their feet swelled to the knees and death came swiftly after excruciating dysentery.
Some were found dead in the fields with their mouths still full of raw grass. In the parish of S. Maria della Tribuna there were thirty deaths, but in the other parishes of Settefrati the victims were over three hundred. Entire neighbouring countries remained depopulated.
Inflation and the cynicism of the rich
The price of food reached insane levels:
- Wheat: came to 7 ducats a tomolo (10 ducats in Foggia).
- Mistura: over 6 ducats a tomolo.
- Barley and spelt bread: paid one grain an ounce.
Despair nullified all human feeling. Mothers and fathers abandoned their children; relatives ignored each other; friends avoided each other. Those who had a piece of bread secretly devoured it. The streets and churches were full of corpses that no one wanted to carry any more, except for payment in bread (money had no value any more as there was nothing to buy). The dead were finally thrown into graves without funerals, without prayers and without the ringing of bells.
In the face of such horror, the “rich”, greedy for money, hid the grain in barrels and walled up the rooms to wait for the price to rise further, lacking any compassion for the dying people.
The end of the famine (June 1764)
Finally, in June 1764, when the rich were hoping to get richer, new wheat appeared in the areas of San Germano (today's Cassino). The price fell rapidly from 12 to 8 carlins a tomolo. Such an abundance of mixture and acorns followed that the products were almost despised for their quantity.
Conclusion and warning to posterity
O fortunate posterity, who at that time were not in the world! During that famine, men not only abandoned their loved ones, but left their possessions uncultivated, giving up sowing and pruning out of too much weakness and despair. I beseech you: always pray to God to deliver you from such a scourge.
D. Michel'Angelo Abbate Carelli, observer of such a spectacle.